Be Dangerous – In Chiropractic and Healthcare, Standup for Your Patients

standing with integrity and purpose

Integrity and Purpose are the Keys to Your Growth in
Your Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice

We live in a world where what we perceive can be manipulated.

Advertising, public relations, and sophisticated behavior modification strategies are powerful tools. They can generate consensus, approval, and demand for a product, service, or idea.

A status quo is generated and supported this way.

For example, when I was a kid, everyone smoked cigarettes. Everywhere. It was heavily pushed and advertised — with M.D.’s no less. And by the Federal Government! (I still remember some of the slogans…! “Winston tastes good like a cigarette should.”)

For years, research continued to show that cigarettes were very unhealthy, but this threatened those who profited from their sales.

If you challenged the manufactured consensus and the messaging, you were attacked, like this man was…

Dr. Jeffrey Wigand was a Vice President of Research and Development at Brown & Williamson – tobacco company. In the mid-1990s, he exposed that industry giants were intentionally engineering cigarettes to be more addictive. They responded with a powerful negative P.R. campaign, compiling a 500-page dossier of smears to brand him a liar and using anonymous death threats to silence his testimony.

Cigarettes finally moved to the sidelines, but those same companies (Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds) moved into the cheap (addictive and harmful) food business—buying up corporations such as Kraft and Nabisco.

There is a money-making complex of industries in which one hand greases the other, a matrix that includes captured lawmakers and professional organizations. Their interests are money and control to keep the money coming. And they have powerful tools to keep this game going.

Many of us are not always familiar with the details, and your patients may be naïve about the attacks launched and sustained through direct and indirect campaigns by these industries.

But to whatever degree you are aware of it, you are on the battlefield – as a player or a piece.

And if you speak up and speak out, if you stand up for your purpose — you can be attacked.

That’s what happened to these doctors:

Peter McCullough, M.D., a renowned cardiologist and professor, was an academic pillar until he advocated early, repurposed treatments for COVID-19. His protocols threatened the pharma-only mandate, so the establishment unleashed a negative P.R. campaign, branding him a “misinformation spreader.” They stripped his journal editor roles, forced him out of his university health system, and revoked his board certifications.

Pierre Kory, M.D., a leading critical care specialist, promoted protocols similar to McCullough’s early protocols. He was attacked for disseminating “dangerous misinformation,” and faced platform censorship, suppressed Senate testimony, and lost hospital affiliations. The American Board of Internal Medicine later revoked his certifications.

Simone Gold, M.D., J.D., an emergency physician and founder of America’s Frontline Doctors, spoke against mandated protocols. The establishment painted her as “unhinged,” deplatformed her group, fired her, and she was arrested and sentenced to prison after January 6.

Eric Nepute, D.C., a vocal chiropractor, got the full-on attack. He dared to suggest that patients focus on immune-supporting nutrients like Vitamin D, Zinc, and Quercetin. The federal government responded by suing him for a theoretical penalty of half a trillion dollars—an absurd effort to bankrupt him and terrify any other practitioner from prioritizing natural health over the pharmaceutical mandate. (I’d say he has bragging rights!)

== == ==

For decades, the chiropractic profession has been the target of this exact same machinery.

When you have a product, service, or clinical truth that threatens a vested interest, you will be fought. So, you are encouraged to hide out. Stay safe. Be agreeable and… tame.

But when you hide, compromise, or try to be “accepted” by a corrupt medical establishment, you are indistinguishable from the thousands of other providers they already control.

They win.

But when you are “dangerous” — when you stand firmly for the truth that the body is designed to heal, not to be a lifetime customer of the pharmaceutical treadmill, you become a beacon.

You are then no longer just a piece on their game board.

Patients today are not looking for more of the same. They are looking for a doctor who stands for real health.

Being dangerous is your greatest marketing asset. It builds a level of trust that no institution can break.

The patients who are waking up to this reality will seek you out because you are a target. They will trust you because you refused to compromise.

Oh, Dr. Nepute — he is even more dangerous now. He operates 30 clinics!

Stand for the truth and help more people be healthy. That is how you build a business.

Don’t be a piece… be a player.

Be Dangerous…

…and Goal Driven,

Ed

P.S. Doctors McCullough, Kory, and Simone – and others – will be speaking at the Wisconsin Society of Chiropractic Society of Wisconsin’s VAXCON, April 24-25 at the Dells, WI. See you there! Link.

*References

On Dr. Jeffrey Wigand & The Tobacco Industry: 

·  On the “Tobacco-to-Food” Strategy: 

·  On the Doctors (McCullough, Kory, Gold): 

·  On Dr. Eric Nepute:

What is Special about L.L. Bean and How Does it Compare to Your Chiropractic or Healthcare Practice?

“Originally published on Goal Driven.com – republished with permission.”

LL bean womens boot
The Key to Building a Chiropractic and Healthcare Practice that Lasts

L.L. Bean. You’ve probably heard of them.

I just received a Christmas shopping catalogue from them (hard copy!). They are a clothing company out of Maine. Founded in 1912 by Leon Leonwood Bean. I probably bought something from them years ago, and I am on their Christmas list.

We also receive a catalogue from Patagonia each year. It is another clothing company. It was founded more recently, in 1973 by a rock climber, Yvon Chouinard.

I like both companies and I will tell you why – in a minute.

= = =

Recently, I saw an ad of a young man (chiropractor) coming off a stage saying that he just sold his practice for “seven figures.” It was a bit of brag and sounded like he wanted to help other doctors reach that level. He said he was able to grow his business quickly and sell it thanks to his marketing.

I’m all for marketing, and I truly hope he can help with other chiropractic practices.

But it made me think: aren’t there significant financial advantages to owning a business in the long term that compound?

When you own a practice for 10-20 years, you’re not just collecting a salary — you’re able to take advantage of tax benefits that can add $30-50K annually to your real compensation! These can include vehicle expenses, health insurance, retirement contributions, continuing education, and equipment depreciation. These can all reduce your tax burden.

Over 20-25 years, these ownership benefits can add $500K-$1M in value that disappears the moment you sell.

And beyond tax advantages, long-term ownership allows your business equity to compound alongside your income. A practice worth $500K in year 5 might grow to $2M by year 10 or $5 -10M by year 25 – or more — IF you have good management, create a strong reputation, and even bring on other providers, or add other locations. And all the while — taking profit distributions, building retirement accounts, and enjoying the flexibility that ownership provides.

The doctor who sells early gets one payday; the doctor who builds strategically gets decades of tax-optimized income plus a potentially much larger exit.

Back to L.L. Bean and Patagonia

Now, back to those Christmas catalogues! Both show how patient, long-term ownership and excellent management, products, and services can build generational wealth over decades of brand-building and customer loyalty.

L.L. Bean, a billion-dollar empire, is still family-owned. Patagonia, now worth billions, wasn’t sold at all. Chouinard transferred ownership to the Patagonia Purpose Trust to ensure profits protect the planet in perpetuity.

Both companies show how owners who focus on purpose-driven growth and lasting customer relationships can build enduring companies that dwarf what any early buyer would have paid.

Purpose and Values of Your Healthcare and Chiropractic Practice

But here is what does not show up in the spreadsheets of these two companies: their values and purposes.

And, their discipline to stick to them!

Selling your business earlier rather than later can be a valid choice. However, if you ensure it remains focused on its purpose and values, you’ll enhance its profitability and make it more valuable for whoever takes ownership next.

L.L. Bean built its reputation on an unconditional guarantee and commitment to customer satisfaction. “At L.L.Bean, we design products that make it easier for families of all kinds to spend time outside together.”

Patagonia’s environmental purpose became so central that Yvon Chouinard ultimately gave away his $3 billion company. “We’re in business to save our home planet.”

The lesson is that a business rooted in purpose beyond profit attracts loyal customers and dedicated employees and creates a brand that competitors can’t copy.

Your purpose — and the discipline to stay creatively and positively true to your goals — pays off.

So…

Stay Goal Driven!

Ed

P.S. And have fun doing so – maybe fishing, camping, or just outside and enjoy the fall. (Or spring, if you’re Down Under.)

How to Create a Wondrous Practice Life

FORTY ONE YEARS AGO, around this time of year (August 7), a twenty four year old managed to sneak up to the twin tours of the World Trade Center, shoot a cable to the other side, get it rigged up tight, and walk across it to the other side. Actually, he made 8 passes, performed dances and entertained an audience a 1/4 of a mile below. He finally came in when it started to rain.

He was arrested, but the the charges were later dismissed if he performed for children in Central Park, which he did.

I recently had the opportunity to listen to Philippe Petit (on August 7, 2015), now 65 years old. He gave a stirring presentation in San Francisco to chiropractic health professionals at the Wave, a seminar put on by Life West Chiropractic College.

Philippe was born in 1949 and still very active. He considers himself, among all things, an artist. But he also juggles, climbs rocks, fights bulls, fences, builds structures with 18th century tools and considers himself an accomplished equestrian.

He explained that he learned early in life to follow his passion and his intuition. But his creativity seemed to be overlooked or given little importance when he was young and so he felt that it must be illegal.

In his book Creativity, Philippe writes: “The creator must be an outlaw. Not a criminal outlaw, but rather a poet who cultivates intellectual rebellion.”

In his talk to us on August 7th, he offered some tips, or precepts that he thought might help us as they have helped him in his life.

He began by talking about his passion to pursue his goals. But right next to that, he emphasized the importance of tenacity. This was a word that included determination, discipline, preparation, and training to do what was needed to be done to achieve those goals about which you are passionate.

He exhibited this nearly a half a century ago as he pursued his goal to walk from one 1,300 foot tall building to another on just a wire. He started planning the walk when he was only 17 living in Paris. The Towers were not yet built. Certainly, the walk itself took immense focus at the time. But it lasted only less than an hour. The real work was in the planning and preparation and training. This took tenacity.

He stressed to listen to your intuition. When you have a question or a problem, listen to your gut and an answer, sooner or later, will visit you. But you do have to listen.

He emphasized simplicity in all that you do, but still be elegant. And don’t be afraid to make mistakes. This is how we learn and move forward. All this, of course, takes courage.

You have to believe in yourself. (Or as Dr. Jimmy Parker used to say, you have to have “FCB – Faith, Confidence and Belief.”) In your role of doctor, provider, and as a professional team member, you have to have faith in yourself and in the services you provide.

In our 3 Goals System of Practice Development, the Third Goal includes your greater purposes. These go beyond financial demands (Goal 1), which are necessary, or profession and business competence (Goal 2), which should be sought. But above it all are your Greater Purposes, your highest values — professionally and personally, that we really seek and that make life worth living.

We learn at an early age to quell our passions and creativity and to fall in line with convention. Obey and comply. And, to some extent, this is necessary for a society and a business to function. But in the bargain, we often lose our spirit. Our creative aspirations, our sense of fellowship with each other, and the outrage at the wrongs that we see — these gradually lose their importance. Our greater purposes become blunted — or even forgotten.

Certainly, this has happened to many people in your community as they “report in,” zombie like to the local drug store for “health care”, especially if it is promoting “free flu shots.” (Average drug prescriptions per person in 1993 was 7.1 In 2014 it was 12.2 And watch out for anyone over 50 where the average prescriptions used are 19, and over for those over 65 – 27. That’s right – 27 prescription medications per person. Average!2)

It is important to keep your greater purposes in sight and to respect them enough to keep them alive. They can and should be integrated into your professional life as you do not work in a factory assembly line as your parents or grandparents may have, or as those who produce your cool t-shirts and running shoes do now. For example, if you like children, have pictures of kids on your walls and have a special “Kids Day.” If you like running, put up pictures of runners and get your patients to join more running clubs. If you want to help the homeless kids in your town, promote a donation program for the local shelter.

Back at the seminar: I noticed that some of the presentations were held in ballrooms that had special, but temporary names. For example, there was the “The Reggie Gold” ballroom, the “Frank Sovinsky” ballroom, and the “Lloyd Latch” ballroom.

In the mid 1980’s, I worked for several years directly for and with Dr. Lloyd Latch. Though he didn’t promote it much, I am sure that he did have the largest chiropractic clinic in the world. While his personal production was high, the total office saw over 2,000 visits per week. The key was that he had created a wonderful team of doctors adjusting patients in 28 adjusting rooms and supported by a dedicate team of professionals.

And what was a key to his success? Over and over I heard Dr. Latch tell his doctors, and others who would visit, that success was “an inside job.”

I think this is exactly what Mr. Petit was getting at.

Success doesn’t come from the latest marketing procedure… it comes from deep inside. It comes from your heart, your passion, your imagination, and the tenacity to work and train daily.

Mr. Pettit says that there are –
“qualities
inside all of us, that we are rarely encouraged to recognize
but that are essential to make our dreams come true, to plan, to construct a wondrous life.”3

IMG_1390 copy

Successful people learn from others, but ultimately take their own counsel.

As Philippe wrote:
“Observation was my conduit for knowledge, intuition my source of power.”3

So, follow your greater purposes and integrate them into your professional and work life. Allow your team members to also pursue their greater purposes – and you will see your practice become more creative, productive and wondrous.

Carpe Diem (seize the day),
Ed
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  1. Generation Rx How Prescription Drugs Are Altering American Lives, Minds, and Bodies by Greg Critser (https://danmurphydc.com/Critser.pdf) , also http://kff.org/other/state-indicator/retail-rx-drugs-per-capita.
  2. www.imshealth.com/deployedfiles/imshealth/Global/Content/Corporate/IMS%20Health%20Institute/Reports/US_Use_of_Meds_2013/Percent_population_prescriptions_per_capita.pdf
  3. Creativity, the Perfect Crime. Philippe Petit